Kärcher's first cloud-native factory: built in record time

THE CHALLENGE: A MODERN PRODUCTION FACILITY IN RECORD TIME

In 2023, Kärcher decided to build a greenfield production facility in Vietnam. It quickly became clear that a traditional on-premises approach was not practical due to time and cost constraints.

"An on-premises solution didn’t make financial sense or meet our strict timeline, especially given our cloud-only strategy," explains Leonhard Kerscher, Vice President IT & Digital Transformation at Kärcher.

The company adopted a cloud-first strategy in 2016 to enhance the responsiveness of its supply chain and has continued this transformation with Zoi as its trusted technology partner.

Thanks to Zoi’s local presence in Vietnam, it was possible to quickly evaluate whether a cloud-based solution could meet the technical requirements. The analysis confirmed that a fully cloud-native approach was feasible.

"With proven performance, speed became our top priority," explains Joseph Mosseler, Partnership Development Manager at Zoi. "Kärcher had already migrated most of its systems to the cloud and understood the benefits. This allowed us to focus on rapid execution and delivering the optimal solution."

A CLOUD-NATIVE STRATEGY WITH AWS

In collaboration with AWS Premier Partner Zoi, Kärcher designed a tailored solution on Amazon Web Services (AWS). This enabled the facility to be built entirely in the cloud, with all processes – from ERP systems to autonomous transport vehicle management – seamlessly integrated.

The technological foundation included:

• Amazon EC2: Secure and scalable computing power.
• Amazon RDS: Efficient and easy-to-manage relational databases.
• Amazon VPC: Full control over networking environments.

By leveraging standard applications, implementation efforts were reduced, enabling a faster go-live. The facility operates from the AWS Singapore Region with no noticeable latency.

BENEFITS OF A CLOUD-NATIVE PRODUCTION FACILITY

• Time savings: Built in just 11 months.
• Cost reduction: Six-figure savings by eliminating hardware and maintenance.
• Flexibility: Scalability to meet production demands.
• Optimized processes: Seamless integration of ERP systems, control solutions, and autonomous transport robots.
  

results – A template for global excellence

In February 2024, the first product rolled off the line at Kärcher’s Vietnam facility. The company not only saved significant investment costs but also eliminated the need for server maintenance personnel.

The cloud-native facility delivers:

• Full flexibility with minimal operational costs.
• Scalability to efficiently handle production peaks.
• Enhanced security by eliminating physical server rooms.

This project marks another milestone on Kärcher’s journey toward full cloud transformation. "The success of this facility, fully operating on AWS, has proven that we can move all of Kärcher into the cloud," Kerscher explains.

"We’re about 90% in the cloud, with the remaining 10% not yet migrated for historical reasons. Vietnam has shown that going all-in on the cloud is possible without compromising performance."

He concludes: "Working with Zoi to build on AWS has created a template we can use for the company globally."

ABOUT KÄRCHER

Headquartered in Winnenden, Germany, Kärcher is the world’s leading provider of cleaning technology, with 160 subsidiaries across 82 countries. Known internationally for its innovative services and products, such as high-pressure washers, the family-owned company employs over 16,000 people and has a history spanning more than 90 years.